Hints to break up household cleaning
Cindy Lou VanDevender

Have you ever started cleaning like mad and never stopped until the job was done? Here are some ways to revamp your house cleaning routine with a " t i d b i t " approach to time organization.

Use the fifteen-minute idea. Fifteen minutes are fewer ticks on the clock than you think, and it can make a difference to the look of a room. Take 15 minutes throughout the day or just clean everything you can once a day. Whatever you task or tasks are, just stop cold once the fifteen minutes is up. You are done and you can go ahead with the rest of your day.

If you can, remember how we used to clean: Monday - washday, Tuesday - ironing day and so on for the rest of the week. This may have been a logical approach for our foremothers, but let's readapt, retrofit or personalize it to fit our everyday life style.

Maybe Monday becomes cleaning all the bathrooms, Tuesday is floor care and Wednesday might be coupon organization day. Make your weekends about spending time with your family and friends instead of cleaning your house or going through junk mail.

Have you ever thought about the dance and clean approach? Put on some high-energy music and clean as much as you can. Make it a goal to have your cleaning responsibilities done by the time the play list ends. You could do this once a day or a couple of times during the weekend.

What about using television commercials to dust bookshelves or straightening up an end table? This could help you out some or you could go super fast with mini-sessions. In 30 seconds, you can: clean the kitchen table, clean a mirror, sweep the floors or go through the mail.

Have your favorite products in a central location so you do not have to run from room to room. In the examples above, let's dedicate ourselves to pack in as much quality cleaning as you can. This way you can spend more time with your family and friends.

Information taken from the Home Made Simple Website, House Cleaning Tip: Clean in Chunks. If you would like any more information please contact Cindy VanDevender, County Extension Agent - Family and Consumer Sciences at the Jasper County Extension Office, 409-994-3721.